Friday, July 5, 2013

I don't make bed quilts very often (one every 3-4 years, it seems!). I made one last week, though, as a retirement gift for my dear friend and former professor and mentor, Lynda Corkum. Lynda initiated me into the world of bugs (when I'm not quilting, I work as a biologist, and study aquatic insects and other invertebrates). The project I worked on, under Lynda's supervision many years ago, involved mayflies (or what are commonly known around Southern Ontario as Fish flies, or June bugs). So my quilt for her had to have some on it. I thread sketched them on, using the bobbin thread on the right side of the fabric, following paper sketches in free-motion quilting (I'm not sure what the name of this particular technique is). Here are the results:

This mayfly raggy quilt was my second large bed quilt (I've made a number of baby quilts over the years, though). My first ever, back in 2006, was made out of scraps of silk and satin, pieced and without any frills (this was before I knew how to free-motion quilt).